Closure liner with provision for venting



March 8, 1966 A. F. DRlscoLL CLOSURE LINER WITH PROVISION FOR VENTING Filed March 24, 1964 ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 3,239,091 CLOSURE LINER WITH PROVISION FR VENTING Anthony F. Driscoll, 6528 78th St., Middle Village, Long Island, N.Y. Filed Mar. 24, 1964, Ser. No. 354,352 s Claims. (cl. 21S-s6) This invention relates to closures for bottles; and relates more especially to closures for bottles which contain substances which require venting.

There are numerous substances, as for example, liquid bleaches which contain dissolved gas, which must be vented for safety on hot days or when they are exposed to unusual heat. Since such materials are sold in expendable containers, it is essential that the closure used be of extremely low cost.

It is an object of this invention to provide a closure for a bottle including a cap having a liner which is yieldable to vent gas or vapor from within the bottle. It is a feature of the invention that the liner does not prevent the cap from being screwed down hard against the lip of the bottle.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cap having a liner which is relatively stiff so that it bears against the lip of a bottle with substantial pressure, but with provision for escape of gas or vapor around portions of the circumference of the liner if and when the vapor in the bottle exceeds a given pressure.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear or be pointed out as the description proceeds.

In the drawing, forming a part hereof, in which like reference characters indicate corresponding parts in all the views:

FIGURE 1 is a view of a bottle equipped with a closure made in accordance with this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a greatly enlarged sectional view through the closure and the upper end of the bottle shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 3 but showing a modified form of the invention;

FIGURE 5 is a greatly enlarged sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 6 is a view similar to FIGURE 4 but showing another modified form of liner;

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary view, partly in section, showing another modied form of the invention; and

FIGURE 8 is an isometric view, partly in section, illustrating the manner in which the cap and liner are assembled in accordance with this invention.

FIGURE 1 shows a bottle 19 having a cap 11 which screws over threads 12 formed on the outside of the neck of the bottle. The cap 11 has knuckle threads 14 which t the threads 12 of the bottle.

The term bottle is used herein in a broad sense to include a jar or other vapor-proof container having a mouth for receiving a cap closure. The bottle may be used for containing liquids which contain disolved gas or for containing solid materials in powdered or granular form, such as effervescent salts and dry bleaches.

FIGURE 2 shows a mouth 16 of the bottle 10 with a liner 18 held against the lip of the bottle mouth 16 by the cap 11. It is a feature of the invention that the cap 11 does not bear against the top 0f the liner 18 around the entire circumference of the bottle mouth 16.

The liner 18 has a lower portion 20 which covers the entire open cross section of the mouth 16 and which extends across the lip of the mouth. The liner 18 has an 3,239,091 Patented Mar. 8, 1966 ice upper portion 22 which has the same diameter as the lower portion 20 in one direction, but which is substantially narrower than the lower portion in the other direction. This is best shown in FIGURE 3 where the upper portion 22 is shown as having a dimension LD in one direction and a dimension W in a transverse direction; the dimension W being substantially less than the dimension D. In the preferred construction, for bottles of moderate mouth size, the dimension W may be from one half to one quarter of the dimension D, these values being given merely by way of illustration.

Referring again to FIGURE 2, it will be apparent that the liner 18 is held down against the lip of the mouth 16 by pressure of the cap 11 against the upper portion 22 of the liner. The cap 11 can be screwed down hard against the liner because the ends of the upper portion 22 are clamped between the cap 11 and the lip of the bottle to limit the extent to which the cap can be screwed down on the bottle.

The circumferential part of the lower portion 20, which overlies the lip of the mouth 16, is held against the lip with a substantial pressure because of the stiffness of the liner 18, and especially the lower portion 20 of the liner. When gas pressure under the liner 1S, in the mouth of the bottle, exceeds a given value, the edge portions ofthe liner remote from the upper portion 22 will bend upward, as shown at the location 26 in FIGURE 2, and this permits the escape of gas from the bottles. The liner may bend upward at both sides and around substantial angular portions of its extent, or it may bend upwardly on one side only where the gas pressure exceeds the sealing pressure by only a slight value. Usually, one side will bend slightly easier than the other as the result of tolerances in the manufacture of the linerand in the centering of the upper portion 22. v

As soon as the gas pressure in the mouth 16 drops sufciently, the liner 18 springs back into the dotted-line position shown at the location 26 and the bottle is again sealed against escape of further vapor unless or until there is another rise in vapor pressure in excess of that which the closure is designed to seal. It will be understood that any vapor escaping between the liner 18 and the lip of the bottle 10 can escape into the ambient atmosphere along the threads 12 and 14.

With most types of caps it is desirable to glue the liner into the cap. With the present invention this is even more desirable because of the necessary clearance between the circumferential portions of the liner and the top of the cap. The adhesive connection between the liner 18 and the cap 11 is made by gluing the upper portion 22 to the inside surface of the cap and by gluing the lower portion 20 to the upper portion. do this in one operation, the assembly is made with the cap 11 turned upside-down, as shown in FIGURE 8. The upper portion 22 is dropped into the cap 11i and centers itself by reason of the fact that the length of the portion 22 is substantially equal to the inside diameter of the cap, the ends 30 of the portion 22 being arcuate with the same curvature as the cap 11.

A quantity of adhesive, such as glue 32, is then applied to the upper portion 22 by placing the glue on a center part of the area of the portion 22 where there is an opening or slot 34 extending through the portion 22. This glue flows into contact with the inside surface of the cap 11 and spreads to some extent under the portion 22 which is resting only lightly on the cap.

The lower portion 20 is then dropped into the cap 11 and pressed down on the upper portion 22 to spread the glue over the confronting faces of the upper and lower por-tions of the liner and to hold the upper portion 22 of the liner firmly against the cap.

In order to make it possible to The assembly can also be made by applying a spot of glue to the inside of the cap 11 before either part of the liner is dropped into the cap. When the upper portion 22 is dropped on the glue, some of the glue rises into the opening or slot 34; and when the lower portion 20 of the liner is pressed down into the cap, more of the glue is squeezed up through the slot 34 into contact with the cap. In the preferred method of assembly, the glue used is one which sets promptly enough so that the pressure holding the liner in the cap can be maintained, until the glue is set, Without excessive delay in the process.

FIGURE 4 shows a modified construction in which a liner 18' is made with an upper portion 22 which differs from the upper portion 22 of FIGURE 3 by having a plurality of openings 36 for transfer of glue, in place of the single slot 34.

FIGURE 5, which is a greatly enlarged sectional view taken on the line 5--5 of FIGURE 3, shows glue 40 securing the upper portion 22 to the lower portion 20 and securing the liner to the cap 11.

The liner 18 is preferably made of paper and preferably paperboard or cardboard having the stiffly flexible characteristic necessary to hold the liner in Contact with the lip of the bottle around the entire circumference of the liner, even though the pressure of the cap is supplied to the liner at the area of the upper portion 22. Stiffer cardboard is used for liners which are designed to seal greater pressure before opening to vent. Other stify flexible material can be used for the liner but cardboard has the advantage of being less expensive.

The cap 11 may apply pressure over the entire area of the upper portion 22 of the liner and this occurs if the top of the cap is constructed so as to be truly flat. Some caps have a slight dome shape and these caps apply pressure to the upper portion of the liner only at the region where the cap clamps the liner against the lip of the bottle.

For most liners, it is desirable to have a facing 48 which consists of a layer of liquid-proof paper which may have a plastic coating. The facing 48 may also be made of foil, such as aluminum foil. Such facings are used on liners to prevent the contents of the bottle from soaking into the liner and to prevent the contents from damaging the liner, or the liner from contaminating the contents of the bottle.

The facing 48 extends across the entire area of the bottom surface of the lower portion 20 so as to contact with the lip of the bottle. It will be understood that the liner shown in FIGURES 2-4 has a facing 48 but the scale of the drawing is too small to show this detail in FIGURES 2-4. It is not necessary to have a facing over other surfaces of the liner 18 because vapor venting into the cap does not damage the liner, and the liner is held against the lip of the bottle with sufficient force to prevent escape of liquid into the space between the liner and the cap. The facing 4S is preferably vapor-proof.

In FIGURES 3 and 4 the edges of the upper portions 22 and 22', respectively, are parallel to one another and are straight lines. These provide, at least in theory, lines along which the cantilever parts of the lower portion begin their bending action to vent the bottle. However, the side edges of the upper portion need not be straight lines, nor need they be parallel to one another.

FIGURE 6 shows a modified liner 18a in which an upper portion 22a has sides edges 50 which are not parallel to one another and which give the upper portion 22a a greater width at its center region than at its arcuate ends. This construction stiffens the liner inasmuch as the radial extent of the lower portion beyond the upper portion is reduced. It obtains sealing of higher pressure without using stiffer material for the bottom portion of the liner.

FIGURE 7 shows a liner 54 which is made of plastic material and which has an upper portion 56 of onepiece construction with a lower portion 58. This liner 54 may also be made of rubber or other material which can be made stiffiy flexible -so as to operate in the same manner as the composite paper or cardboard construction described in connection with the other figures of the drawing.

The width of the upper portion 56 can be varied, as in the case of the upper portion 22 previously described, depending upon the desired degree of stiffness of the parts of the lower portion 58 which extend radially beyond the sides of the upper portion 56. In any event, the width of the upper portion 56, and also the upper portions 22, 22 and 22a, 'is always substantially greater than the thickness of the liner.

With the plastic liner 54 shown in FIGURE 7, a spot of glue is used to secure the upper portion 56 to the inside surface of the cap, but no slots or other openings through the upper portion 56 are necessary to transmit glue to the lower portion 58 because the portions 56 and 58 are of one-piece construction, as previously described.

The preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and decribed, but changes and modifications can be made and some feature can be used in different combinations without departing from the invention as defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a closure for a bottle or the like having a mouth with a lip at the end of the mouth, and attaching means on the outside of the bottle for holding a cap over the mouth thereof, said closure including a cap with cam means thereon for co-operating with the attaching means on the bottle to pull the cap down over the mouth of the bottle and advance the cap toward the lip, a liner that covers the mouth opening and that extends across the lip around the entire circumference of the lip, the improvement which comprises a liner having a mid portion at the top thereof, the mid portion extending lengthwise across the full extent of the liner in one direction and having both ends of the mid portion clamped against the lip of the bottle by the downward pressure of the cap on the ends of the mid portion, said mid portion of the liner extending widthwise across substantially less than the full width of the liner and less than the distance between the regions where the liner contacts with the lip of the bottle beyond side edges of the mid portion of the liner, the side portions of the liner beyond the side edges of the mid portion being spaced from the confronting inside surface of the cap and including cantilever sections that swing upward away from the lip of the ibottle in response to pressure under the liner, said side portions of the liner being resilient so that they are held down against the lip by pressure of the cap against the mid portion and said side portions being yieldable away from the lip by gas pressure within the bottle to vent gas that exceeds a given pressure.

2. The closure described in claim 1 characterized by the cap having screw threads that screw over complementary threads on the outside of the bottle to provide a controlled pressure of the cap against the mid portion of the liner and the resulting pressure of said mid portion against the lip.

3. The closure described in claim 1 characterized by the mid portion of the liner being secured to the inside surface of the cap by adhesive and the side portions of the liner being spaced across their entire areas from the inside surface of the cap when the liner is in contact with the lip.

4. The closure described in claim 1 characterized by the mid portion of the liner being a different piece from the rest of the liner and having an opening therethrough, and an integral mass of adhesive in and around said opening securing the mid portion to the rest of the liner and the liner to the inside surface of the cap above said mid portion.

5. The closure described in claim 1 characterized by the mid portion of the liner being of one-piece construction With the rest of the liner.

6. The closure described in claim 1 characterized by the cap having screw threads that screw over complementary threads on the outside of the bottle to provide a controlled pressure of the cap against the mid portion of the liner 'and the resulting pressure of the liner agamst the lip of the bottle, the side portions of the liner being spaced from the inside surface of the cap when the liner is in contact with the lip, the mid portion of the liner being a diferent piece from the rest of the liner and having an opening therethrough over a limited area thereof the mid portion `of the liner except for the open area being of substantially uniform thickness, an integral ma-ss of adhesive in and around ysaid openingr securing the mid portion to the rest of the liner and the liner to the inside surface of the cap, edges 'of the mid portion beyond which the rest of the liner extends diverging from one another as they approach a line substantially half-way across the liner and then converging to the end of the liner to reduce the extent by which the rest of the liner extends beyond the mid portion at a region intermediate the opposite ends of the mid portion.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner.

GEORGE O. RALSTON, FRANKLIN T. GARRETI,

Examiners.

Lipman a 215-56 

1. IN A CLOSURE FOR A BOTTLE OR THE LIKE HAVING A MOUTH WITH A LIP AT THE END OF THE MOUTH, AND ATTACHING MEANS ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE BOTTLE FOR HOLDING A CAP OVER THE MOUTH THEREOF, SAID CLOSURE INCLUDING A CAP WITH CAM MEANS THEREON FOR CO-OPERATING WITH THE ATTACHING MEANS ON THE BOTTLE TO PULL THE CAP DOWN OVER THE MOUTH OF THE BOTTLE AND ADVANCE THE CAP TOWARD THE LIP, A LINER THAT COVER THE MOUTH OPENING AND THAT EXTENDS ACROSS THE LIP AROUND THE ENTIRE CIRCUMFERENCE OF THE LIP, THE IMPROVEMENT WHICH COMPRISES A LINER HAVING A MID PORTION AT THE TOP THEREOF, THE MID PORTION EXTENDING LENGTHWISE ACROSS THE FULL EXTENT OF THE LINER IN ONE DIRECTION AND HAVING BOTH ENDS OF THE MID PORTION CLAMPED AGAINST THE LIP OF THE BOTTLE BY THE DOWNWARD PRESSURE OF THE CAP ON THE ENDS OF THE MID PORTION, SAID MID PORTION OF THE LINER EXTENDING WIDTHWISE ACROSS SUBSTANTIALLY LESS THAN THE FULL WIDTH OF THE LINER AND LESS THAN THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE REGIONS WHERE THE LINER CONTACTS WITH THE LIP OF THE BOTTLE BEYOND SIDE EDGES OF THE MID PORTION OF THE LINER, THE SIDE PORTIONS OF THE LINER BEYOND THE SIDE EDGES OF THE MID PORTION BEING SPACED FROM THE CONFRONTING INSIDE SURFACE OF THE CAP AND INCLUDING CANTILEVER SECTIONS THAT SWING UPWARD AWAY FROM THE LIP OF THE BOTTLE IN RESPONSE TO PRESSURE UNDER THE LINER, SAID SIDE PORTIONS OF THE LINER BEING RESILIENT SO THAT THEY ARE HELD DOWN AGAINST THE LIP BY PRESSURE OF THE CAP AGAINST THE MID PORTION AND SAID SIDE PORTIONS BEING YIELDABLE AWAY FROM THE LIP BY GAS PRESSURE WITHIN THE BOTTLE TO VENT GAS THAT EXCEEDS A GIVEN PRESSURE. 